The present invention relates to a dart game.
In the present invention dart games are to be interpreted broadly in which objects, to be called darts, are launched in some fashion and manner into some direction, either in substantially horizontal, vertical or other angle, with an objective to have the objects or darts landed in specific areas or locations to be called targets or target pieces. Target may have varying shapes of either the flat, the protruded, or the recessed.
In general, the main objective of the conventional dart games is to measure and compare the skill of dart throwing. Even though the objective itself has a good and sound recreational value, the result is that the games are often too simple-minded and even boring in a sense that they do not require high level mental activities in terms of game planning, strategy setup, and most importantly needs for instant countermeasure reactions. In analogy, the conventional dart games may be compared to the activity of football throwings between two or three people standing relatively in fixed positions in a picnic area: they need football throwing skills to sustain the activity but it is surely a slow and idling activity; however, dart games formulated by the present invention as described herein may be compared to the real football game played in the real football field.
Another drawback of conventional dart agmes is that the level of difficulty in achieving an objective in a dart throwing is mostly determined by the relative size and location of one target area or piece being aimed at. In comparison, in real sports such as the football game as an example, difficulty in a passing game depends not only on the level of difficulty of passing a ball, for example over 30 yards, between the quarterback and a receiver, but also on the level of difficulty or easiness of defending the long-yardage passing game by the defensive team. The combination of the two factors is what really matters. In the conventional dart games this factor is totally or largely missing. In the present invention this factor may be easily implemented by adjusting the ratio in sizes between a target for an offensive dart throwing and the corresponding target for a defensive dart throwing.
Accordingly, the main objective of the present invention is to devise dart throwing games that require not only the dart throwing skill but also high level mental activities throughout the games, resulting game psychology as complex as that to be found in the conventional ball games such as the football and the baseball. This objective is obtained in the present invention first by providing two seperate groups of targets, one group to be used by one team and the other group to be used by the opposing team; secondly requiring that a play consists of a plurality number of dart throwings alternated between the two teams; then lastly interrelating and interlocking one dart throwing by one team to the subsequent dart throwing by the other team in determining the result of the set of alternate dart throwings: these provisions give the players chances to respond and counteract each other.
In the most of conventional dart games, a dart throw by one player is not interlocked to, influenced by, and depending on the subsequent dart throw by the opposing player in determining the score or result of each dart throw. This factor makes the games slow and less exciting. In the present invention this almost fatal drawback is remedied. After all, most of the excitement of, for example, the football game stems from the reactive nature of two teams battling in the field. Without the reactive responses in the forms of countermeasures, effort to guess forthcoming response, risk-taking play option, and last moment play decisions, the football game would be as exciting as the monotonous ball throwings in a picnic area.
Another added feature of the present invention is that the ratios in sizes between offensive targets and corresponding defensive targets may be adjusted to vary the level of difficulty or easiness of various play options. Accordingly, players should consider not only the easiness or difficulty of his hitting a target area or piece with the dart, but also easiness or difficulty of the opponent player's hitting the corresponding target area or piece within each pair of the interlocked sequential dart throwings.
Another objective of the present invention is to simulate the popular ball games such as the football, the baseball and the basketball into dart games so that people can enjoy in thier own houses the excitment of game planning and strategy formulation of the ball games by playing the invented dart games.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide opportunities to the people to learn, study and appreciate the various game rules, strategies, and play options through playing the simulated ball games embodied after the present invention.